TOPEKA – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today announced a new federal program that will track scam artists who prey on military families and try to elude authorities by skipping from state to state.

“Our military men and women and their families sacrifice each and every day to keep our country safe,” Schmidt said. “Crooks and scam artists who prey on military families require a particular focus from law enforcement authorities. Kansas law gives our office special authority to go after those who prey on military families, and we are working toward better cooperation with other states and with federal authorities so there is no place to hide.”

The new federal program is a nationwide database, available to law enforcement, that will include information about civil and criminal enforcement actions against companies and individuals who prey on military families. It will be called the Repeat Offenders Against Military Database (“ROAM Database”). Schmidt today joined with Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in a letter asking all state attorneys general to cooperate with federal authorities to get the new database up and running and to provide it with information about convictions and judgments.

Schmidt and Conway are the national co-chairs of the Consumer Protection Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General.

“Fraudsters who target the military sometimes close up shop in one state when law enforcement actions are taken against them, only to set up the same scheme in another state,” the two attorneys general wrote. “The initial issue this presents is simply identifying who the repeat offenders are, especially when they may operate under different corporate names.”

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